Destructive distillation of domestic sewage

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a system and method for the destructive distillation of domestic wastes by the flash evaporation of a liquid resulting from domestic waste materials from which sediment has been removed and biological reduction and liquefaction effected through a plurality of stages incorporated in a septic tank. When a designated quantity of effluent has been provided thereby, a level sensing device actuates the heating elements of a reactor type furnace which on reaching a certain temperature actuates a pump that directs the flow of accumulated effluent to the furnace wherein the effluent is first preheated, then discharged into a reactor to effect the flash evaporation of the effluent and its discharge as a vapor from the furnace.

United States Patent 1191 Lore et al.

]March 20, 1973 DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF DOMESTIC SEWAGE [76]Inventors: Raymond J. Lore, 1884 NW. North 1 River Drive; Carl W.Draudt, Jr., 2525 NW. 18th Terrace, both of Miami, Fla. 33125 [22]Filed: June 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 148,641

52 U.S.Cl. ..210/121,210/l52,210/180, 210/181 51 Im. 01 ..c02e1/01) 58Field 6: Search ..210/12, 64, 121, 152, 180, 210/181 [56] ReferencesCited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,938,630 5/1960 Novak ..2lO/l77X PrimaryExaminer-Michael Rogers Attorney-Salvatore G. Militana [5 7 ABSTRACTDisclosed is a system and method for the destructive distillation ofdomestic wastes by the flash evaporation of a liquid resulting fromdomestic waste materials from which sediment has been removed andbiological reduction and liquefaction effected through a plurality ofstages incorporated in a septic tank. When a designated quantity ofeffluent has been provided thereby, a level sensing device actuates theheating elements of a reactor type furnace which on reaching a certaintemperature actuates a pump that directs the flow of accumulatedeffluent to the furnace wherein the effluent is first preheated, thendischarged into a reactor to effect the flash evaporation of theeffluent and its discharge as a vapor from the furnace.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHAR 2 0197s SHEET 10F 2 I I j, I 52/IN VE/V TORS RAYMOND J. LORE CARL QN. DRAUDT Jr.

(/W ff W ATTORNEY PATH'HEDMARZOIHYS 3 7 1 34 SHEET 2 BF 2' INVENTORSRAYMOND J. LURE CARL yV. DRAUDT Jr.

DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF DOMESTIC SEW AGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONrequired by statute or by good ecological reasoning. 0

One such area is in airplanes, marine and mobile homes where permanentconnections to sewage systems are not possible.

Also, in many sections of the country where there is no public seweragesystem the character of the soil as a drain field may prevent the properfunctioning of a septic tank system, the land being either all clay,rock or too marshy to permit the necessary percolation of effluentthrough the soil to properly purify and clarify same so as not to causea pollution problem.

At the present time disposal devices are available to those that areunfortunate in not having a proper sewerage or septic tank system inwhich to dispose their domestic waste materials. These disposal devicesconsist of holding tanks in which the waste material may be chemicallytreated as by chlorination, etc. macerated, incinerated, evaporated ordehydrated. None of these devices are completely adequate since all ofthem are of limited capacity, some are malodorous, others haveby-products such as solids that have to be disposed of and all of themare expensive in cost and require more than ordinary attention.

SUMMARY The present invention contemplates avoiding all of the aboveindicated objections to the use of the conventional domestic wastedisposal devices, and therefore has as its princiPal object theprovision of a method and system for disposing domestic sewage by anautomated self-contained compact thermal reaction unit that results inthe complete destruction of bioreducible human waste and thenon-bio-reducible effluents thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an effluenttreatment system having a septic tank in which human waste is received;sedimentation and biological reduction processes take place and uponliquification the effluent, is collected in a metering device until acertain quantity causes the heating of a reactor type furnace and thepumping of the effluent into the reactor wherein the liquid is flashvaporized and may be vented into the atmosphere or returned to sterileliquid form.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the destructivedistillation of domestic waste wherein there is no resulting pollutioncontamination of the atmosphere streams or the ground.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a systemfor the destructive distillation of human waste which is automatic inoperation, but will only operate when a certain designated level ofeffluent has been collected in a telemetering or liquid receptacle andupon emptying the telemetering receptacle the system shuts down untilthe former is again filled with effluent and the cycle of operationagain commences.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, with the understanding, however, that the inventionis not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of thedrawings but may be changed or modified so long as such changes ormodifications mark no material departure from the salient features ofthe invention as expressed in the appended claims. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of our system for the destructive distillationof domestic sewage with parts broken away.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the discharge chamber ofthe septic tank.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the telemetering device.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the electric furnace.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawingswherein like numerals are used to designate similar parts throughout theseveral views, our waste disposal system consists generally of acombination septic and sedimentation tank 10, a liquid collectingtelemetering device 20, a metering pump 30, a flash type furnace 40 anda solid state control device 50, all of which are interconnected asindicated hereinafter to receive household waste matter and finallydischarge sterile, odorless and uncontaminated vapor into theatmosphere.

The septic tank 10 which is preferably constructed of stainless steel orother suitable material consists of a plurality of compartments,preferably three in number, namely, compartments 11, 12 and 13 separatedby laterally extending baffles 14 and 15, which terminate in spacedrelation to the top wall of the tank 10 to permit the overflow ofinfluent from compartment 11 to compartment 12 and then to compartment13.

An inlet pipe 16 for domestic sewage communicates with the upper portionof the chamber 11 while an outlet pipe 17 is connected to the lowerportion of the chamber 13. Each of the chambers 11, 12 and 13 are alsopermit the cleaing or removal of sediment when necessary from thevarious compartments. The compartment 13 is further provided with afirst vent opening 19 which is connected to the telemetering device 20by means of a pipe 21 and a second vent opening 119 that communicateswith the atmosphere to dispel the gases created during the anaeroblcdecomposition of the solid waste matter in its conversion to a liquidstate.

The inner end of the outlet pipe 17 is provided with a conical shapedfilter or screen element 117 to prevent the discharge of solid materialtherethrough. Adjacent thereto and extending at an oblique angle is agas baffle or deflector 217 that prevents the gases created therein frombeing discharged into the outlet pipe 17 but will instead rise to thetop portion of the chamber 13 and be discharged into the atmosphere byway of the open vent 1 19.

The outlet 17 of the septic tank 10 is connected to the telemeteringdevice 20 by a pipe 22 that extends to an inlet 23, the telemeteringdevice 20 being positioned at a lower level than the bottom of theseptic tank so that flow of liquid from the chamber 13 is effected bygravity. Within the telemetering device 20 is a float 24 which engages aconventional float switch 25 mounted in the telemetering device 20 whena certain amount of liquid has accumulated in the telemetering device20. The float switch 25 is connected by an electric conductor 26 to thecontrol panel 50 which in turn is connected to a source of electricity(not shown). Further electric conduits 27 and 28 extend from the controlpanel 50 to the pump 30 and a terminal box 41 mounted on the furnace 40so as to be capable of actuating the pump 30 and furnace 40 at theappropriate times as is explained in detail hereinafter.

The pump 30 is connected to the telemetering device 20 by a pipe 29 topermit the liquid in the telemetering device 20 to be evacuated andpumped through a pipe 31 which extends into the furnace 40. A checkvalve 32 is mounted in the pipe line 31 to prevent the reverse flow ofliquid therethrough.

The furnace 40 consists of an outer shell forming a chamber 42 enclosedby a cover member 43. Within the chamber 42 is an electric furnace 44constructed of refractory brick to form a heat chamber 45 and whoseinner surface is grooved as at 46 in a spiral shape extending from thebottom to adjacent the top of the electric furnace 44. Within the openspiral groove 46 extends a heating coil 55. A cover 47 which enclosesthe heat chamber 45 is provided with openings 48 and 49 for receivingpipes 51 and 52 that extend to a reactor or flash receptacle suspendedin the heat chamber 45. The pipe 51 extends to the bottom portion of thereactor 53 and is connected at its outer end to a preheating coil 54mounted on the electric furnace 44 and extends through the chamber 42and the furnace 40 to connect with the pipe 31. The electric wire 28which extends to the terminal box 41 is connected to wires 56 thatextend to the ends of the heating coil 55. The spaces between thefurnace shell 40 and the electric furnace 44 are filled with insulationto prevent loss of heat during the operation of the electric furnace 44.The pipe 52 is connected to a pipe 58 that extends through the shell ofthe furnace 40 is provided with a vent 59 that will discharge theresulting vapors into the atmosphere.

It is to be noted that if found preferable, the pipe 58 may be connectedto further pipe (not shown) that permits the cooling of the vapors andconversion thereof to water for reuse. 4

In the normal operation of our system for the destructive distillationof household sewage, waste materials will flow through the pipe 16 intothe first compartment 11 of the septic tank 10 where most of thesediment contained in the waste fluids will settle to the bottom of thechamber 11 later to be cleaned out by way of the opening 18. At the sametime the biological reduction process commences and continues uponflowing into chamber 12 over the baffle 14. In this second chamber 12,the biological reduction process will have converted the waste materialsto liquid form and the remainder of the sediment therein will have beendeposited in the bottom of the chamber 12, so that the liquidoverflowing the baffle into the third chamber 13 will be approximatelycolorless and with little or no sediment therein as the level ofeffluent rises in the chamber 13 above the level of the outlet 17, itflow through the filter 117 by gravity through the pipe 22 and into thetelemetering device 20. The gas baffle 217 prevents any gases formed inthe chamber 13 from entering the discharge outlet 17, but insteaddirects the gases away from the fllter 117 towards the top of thechamber 13 where the gases are vented into the atmosphere through thevent 119.

When sufficient effluent has accumulated in the telemetering device 20to cause the float 24 to rise therein and actuate the float switch 25,the control panel 50 relays (not shown) will first cause the electricityto flow through the wires 28 to heat the heating coils 55 until acertain desired tempeature has been reached. Then the relays will causeelectricity to flow through wires 27 to actuate the pump 30 which willthen force the flow of effluent from the telemetering device 20 throughthe pipe 31 past the check valve 32 and into the preheating coils 54.The preheated effluent now flows into inlet pipe 51 where the liquid isdeposited into the reactor 53 where the liquid is instantaneouslyconverted into a vapor by flash action due to the intensity of the heatof approximately 900 F. The vapors then rise in the reactor 53 and aredischarged through the pipe 52, 58 and vented into the atmosphere at thevent opening 59. These vapors will, of course, be sterile andpractically odorless. If it is not desired that vapors be dischargedinto the atmosphere, they may be condensed and the liquid resultingthereby may be accumulated for reuse or discharged as desired. Theresulting liquid will be colorless and free of bacteria though may notbe potable. Since the vaporization of water results in the settling ofsalts, chlorides, etc. in the bottom of the reactor, the reactor 53 isprovided with a cleaning port 35, to remove same. After the effluent inthe receptacle or telemetering device 20 has been completely evacuatedtherefrom the float switch 25 will open the circuit to the control panel50 to shut down the motor 30 and deenergize the heating coils 55, untilthe effluent again collects and reaches the designated level in thetelemetering device 20 to actuate the float switch 25 as explainedhereinbefore.

The control panel 50 is provided with a conventional toggle on and offswitch 60 which is available to deactuate the system in the event it isdecided to render the system inoperative. for any reason.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A system for the destructive distillation of domestic waste mattercomprising of a septic tank, a baffle member extending laterally acrosssaid septic tank forming a plurality of compartments communicating atthe upper portion of said baffle member, a waste inlet mounted at theupper portion of one of said compartments and a liquid effluent outletmounted at a lower portion of the other of said compartments, a filtermounted on said outlet, an effluent collecting receptacle, pipe meansconnecting said receptacle and said outlet permitting gravity flow ofeffluent from said other of said compartments to said effluentcollecting receptacle, float means mounted in said receptacle, switchmeans operable by said float means upon the rising of said float meansin said effluent collecting receptacle, heat generating means, reactormeans having a vent mounted in said heat generating means and pumpremovably mounted on said walls, a heating coil mounted along the insidesurfaces of said refractory material extending substantially along thefull height of said chamber in a spiral configuration and said reactormeans having a chamber and an inlet extending to the lower portion ofsaid chamber whereby radiated heat from said heating coils effects theevaporation of said effluent.

1. A system for the destructive distillation of domestic waste mattercomprising of a septic tank, a baffle member extending laterally acrosssaid septic tank forming a plurality of compartments communicating atthe upper portion of said baffle member, a waste inlet mounted at theupper portion of one of said compartments and a liquid effluent outletmounted at a lower portion of the other of said compartments, a filtermounted on said outlet, an effluent collecting receptacle, pipe meansconnecting said receptacle and said outlet permitting gravity flow ofeffluent from said other of said compartments to said effluentcollecting receptacle, float means mounted in said receptacle, switchmeans operable by said float means upon the rising of said float meansin said effluent collecting receptacle, heat generating means, reactormeans having a vent mounted in said heat generating means and pump meansconnecting said effluent collecting receptacle and said reactor meanswhereby upon actuation of said switch means by said float means, saidheat generating means is actuated and said pump means discharges saideffluent from said receptacle to said reactor to vaporize said effluentand discharge said vapor through said vent.
 2. The structure as recitedby claim 1 wherein said heat generating means comprises a chamber havingwalls constructed of refractory materials, a cover removably mounted onsaid walls, a heating coil mounted along the inside surfaces of saidrefractory material extending substantially along the full height ofsaid chamber in a spiral configuration and said reactor means having achamber and an inlet extending to the lower portion of said chamberwhereby radiated heat from said heating coils effects the evaporation ofsaid effluent.